As it seems to every year, the deadline for filing Senior Freeze property tax reimbursement applications has been extended again, now to Nov. 1st. The deadline was originally June 1st, then extended to Aug. 2nd.

Although no additional senior citizens are being sent ‘Senior Freeze[1]‘ tax reimbursements this year that didn’t get them last year, state Department of the Treasury officials say newly eligible seniors ought to sign up now, anyway.

Statistics from the Treasury Department suggest that the suspension of benefits for anyone new to the Senior Freeze program has cut down on the number of program applicants.

As of about 10 days ago, there had been 47,292 applications for first-time Senior Freeze reimbursements. That’s down from 58,806 a year earlier — a 20% decline, though with more than three months (as it turns out) still available for more filings.

The number of filers submitting applications who didn’t file the previous year, a universe that includes folks whose initial request for benefits was turned down, is down by 15%, from 48,385 to 40,939 (and counting).

The Senior Freeze reimburses enrolled seniors for the amount that their property taxes increased from the time they signed up — freezing their tax bills at those levels. Seniors who sign up this year, although they won’t get a payment now, would “lock in” a lower base year for when the program restarts.

Seniors who received Senior Freeze reimbursements last year can receive payments again this year, so long as their incomes don’t exceed $70,000 and they continue to meet other eligibility requirements[2]. Those reimbursements will be paid at 2008 rates. The first 109,000 checks were sent two weeks ago, sent to roughly 109,000 people who met the original June deadline.

The Senior Freeze program is separate from the homestead rebate program, which is suspended until next May and will then be paid in quarterly installments as direct credits off receipients’ property tax bills. Filing for those benefits will begin later this year, the Treasury Department says.